John e



(No Model.)

J. E. ATWOOD.

DEVIGE FOR SUPPORTING THE SPINDLES OF SILK SPINNING MACHINES, 8w.

"N0. 302,8'14. I Patented July 29, 1884.

' F'gi N PUERS. PhoXc -ilhognpber. Washington. 04 c rrn ATBNT @rrrcn.

JOHN F. ATWOOD, or STONINGTON, connncriourr.

DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING THE SPlNDLES OF SILK-SPINNING MACHINES, do.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,814, dated July 29, 1884-.

Application filed July 17, 1883.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN E. Arwoon, of Stonington, in the county of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Support ing the Spindles of Machines for .Spinning Silk and Other Fibrous Materials, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines for spinning, in which each spindle has a whirl or pulley encircled by a driving-band.

,lVhen such bands are too slack, there is a slaekness in the twist of the yarn or thread, and when the bands are too tight there is greater friction, requiring more power to drive the spindles and greater wear upon the spindles, spindlebearings, and bands.

. The object of one part of my invention is to take up automatically any slack in the bands which may result from stretching or froinvariations of weather, and to produce and maintain uniformly a degree of tension which will insure the best results.

The object of another part of myinvention, which applies only tospindles which give the twist to the yarn as it passes off from them, as is common in spinning silk, is to break the thread or yarn automatically in case of the breaking of the band, and to thus prevent a quantity of untwisted thread or yarn from being taken off the spindle after the spindle has stopped.

The invention consists in the combination, with a spindle-rail, of a spindle provided with a whirl or pulley, a spindle step and bolster, a spindle-base in which said step and bolster are mounted, and which is so supported from the rail that it is capable of movement to carry the spindle toward and from the rail, a driving-band encircling the whirl or pulley of the spindle, and means, consisting of a spring or a weight, acting upon the spindlebase to impel it and the spindle away from the rail, and serving to maintain a proper tension on the driving-band. The power of the spring or weight acts in the opposite direction to the tension of the spindledriving band, and the spring or weight is so proportioned that it will preserve the proper tension on the band. In order to support thespindlebase so that it will be capable of automatic movement, as above described, I may hinge it by a verti- (No model.)

cal pivot to a spindle-rail or a bracket projecting therefrom, and the spring may be coiled around said pivot and have one end bearing on the base and the other on the bracket. This construction also forms a part of my invention.

To the end that the yarn or thread being spun oil a spindle so supported may be broken when the spindle-band breaks, my invention consists in the combination, with the abovedescribcd movable spindle-base, spindle step and bolster, spindle, and spring or weight, of an ebutment against which a bobbin placed on the spindle will be carried when the spindle moves outward at the breaking ot the band, and between which and the bobbin the yarn or thread will catch as it is unwound from the bobbin, and so be broken off by the continued rotation of the spool upon which it is being taken up from the spindle.

Theinvention also consists in a novel combination of parts, hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 represents a transverse section of a spindle-rail and an elevation of a, spindle supported according to my invention, and an abutment against which the bobbin may strike. Fig. 2 represents a plan ofsaid parts, and Fig. is an elevation of the spindlebase detached 1" rom other parts.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

The spindle-rail here shown is ol' the construction shown and described in my application for Letters Patent No. 101,042, filed July 17, 1883; but my invention may be employed with any kind of spindle-rail. The rail represented consists of two parallel round rods or tubes, A A.

B B designate clamps or clamping-pieces, which are applied to opposite sides of the two rods or tubes A, and secured thereon by a screw or bolt, a, passing between the rods or tubes.

On the inner sides of one or both of the clamps B B are projecting portions 2), which I term spacing projections, for the reason that they project or'cnter between the rods or tubes and hold them at a proper distance apart, and one or both of the clamps may project beyond the centers of and hug the tubes,

as shown at Z). The parts I), I term gathering-lips, as they hold the rods or tubes against spreading. The clamp or clamping-piece B has projecting from it a bracket, B, the purpose of which I shall soon explain.

0 designates a spindle, on which is a bobbin, D, and the whirl or pulley O, which receives the driving-band G. I do not show the driving-pulleys or drum for the bands, as they form no part-of my invention, and any wellknown construction and arrangement of pulleys for the driving-bands may be used.

E designates a spindle step and bolster, and F designates what I term a spindle-base, in which the step and bolster are mounted. The step and bolster E here shown have a yielding or flexible connection with the spindlebase by the spring E; but such a construction forms no part of this invention. It is whatis commonly termed a gravitating spindle but my iiwention is equally applicable to a spindle having its step and bolster rigidly mounted in the spindle-base F. To carry out my invention the spindle-base F must be so supported from the rail A that it shall be capable of movement to carry the spindle toward and from the rail; and in this example of my invention the desired result is attained by hinging the base by a vertical pivot, c, to the bracket B The base can then swing horizontally from a position shown in full p a a spindle provided with a whirl or pulley, a spindle step and bolster, a spindle-base 1n ,which said step and bolster are mounted, which issupported from the rail, and which 1s lines in Fig. 2, and even farther toward the rail A, to the position shown in dotted lines in said Fig. 2.

G designates aspring which is coiled around the pivot c, and the ends of which bear,one on the bracket B and the other on the step and bolsterE,and through it acting on the spindlebase F. This spring G exerts a constant tendency to move or swing the base F outward, and so move the spindle G away from the rail A; but the band 0 holds the spindle and base against swinging outward beyond its limit. The spring G keeps the band constantly under a uniform tension which will take up any slack in it, and by properly proportioning the force of the spring a proper tension on the band (3 will always be maintained. A prop erly-proportioned weight might be applied to the base F in lieu of the spring G, it being the equivalent of the weight. It will be understood that in case of the breakage of the driving-band O the spring G, or its equivalent weight, is relieved of any resistance, and will v spindle is allowed to move outward, and in unwinding the yarn or thread d will surely be caught between the bobbin and abutment and at once broken off. The abutment shown consists of a rail, H, extending along the front of the machine and supported by standards H from the rail A.

The standards H may be fastened to the rods or tubes A by means of clamps similar to. the clamps B B; or they may be fastened in any other suitable manner.

In lieu of employing the bracket Bfithe base F may be pivoted directly to the spindlerail, if the latter be of usual construction.

By my invention I provide for keeping a uniform and proper tension upon the band C, and I likewise prevent any considerable quantity of yarn or thread being taken from the bobbin D in an untwisted condition while the bobbin is at rest.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a spindle-rail, of

a spindle provided with a whirl or pulley, a

spindle step and bolster, aspindle-base in which said step and bolster are mounted, and

' which is supported from the rail,substantially away from the rail, and serving to maintain a proper tension on the driving-band, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, with a spindle-rail, of

mounted on a vertical pivot, as described, so as to swing horizontally toward and from said rail, a driving-band encircling the whirl or pulley of'the spindle, and means for impelling said base automatically away from therail,

' and the vertical pivot 0, connecting said base with said bracket, the spring G, coiled around said pivot and bearing with its ends agalnst said bracket and base, the step and bolster E,

carried by said base,and the spindle G in said step and bolster, substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, with the rail, consisting of parallel rods or tubes A A, the clamping-pieces B B, the latter carrying the bracket B, the spindle-base F, and pivot 0, connecting it with said bracket, means for swinging said base automatically outward, a spindle step and bolster carried by said base, and a spindle, G, in said step and bolster, all substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a spindle-rail, of a spindle, spindle step and bolster, a spindlebase carrying said step and bolster, and supported from the rail so that it is capable of movement to carry the spindle toward and IIO Lil

for impelling said base automatically away from said rail, and a spindle step and bolster, and a spindle carried by said rail, of the abut- 1ne11t-rai1I-I,a11d standards H, supporting said i 5 abutment-rail from said spindle-rail, substantiall y as and for the purpose described.

JOHN E. ATNOOD.

I Witnesses:

O. H. COWAN, WM. A. GILBERT. 

